A fan hangs a "K" after Madison Bumgarner, one of the Giants four home-grown starting pitchers, strikes out another batter. San Francisco has rebuilt its team around a stronger farm and scouting system.

Barry Bonds, who is Major League Baseball's career leader with 762 home runs, led the Giants to the World Series in 2002. San Francisco is back in the Series for the first time since then, and the Giants are moving past the long shadow cast by Bonds, including the accusations of steroid use, his overbearing personality and ego.

SAN FRANCISCO  After years of hitching their wagon to the indomitable force that was Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants brass faced a quandary when his star finally began to fade in 2005 and '06.

Club executives agreed on the need to revamp a neglected farm system, but they were unwilling to wait until it bore fruit. They had a $20 million yearly mortgage on their ballpark, plus the needs of a demanding fan base.

"We were not going to tell our fans: 'News bulletin: We're going to rebuild for five years,' " club President Larry Baer says. "If we had said that, you know what the fans would say? 'Great! We'll see you in five years. We'll go spend our summers in Lake Tahoe instead of AT&T Park.' "

The Giants' attempt at the tough trick of contending while rebuilding resulted in four consecutive losing seasons from 2005-'08, but the resulting high draft picks and the club's determination to restructure around young pitching have paid off.

The pitching staff, which led the majors in ERA, is the hallmark of the team that will take the field today against the Texas Rangers in the World Series opener, San Francisco's first trip to the Fall Classic since the Bonds-led club of 2002.

With a rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, none older than 27, the Giants are just the second team to start four homegrown pitchers in the postseason since the draft was instituted in 1965. The 1986 Boston Red Sox did it first.

"We were committed to distancing ourselves from the Bonds era," general manager Brian Sabean says of the period that ended when the Giants released Bonds after the 2007 season. "We knew our pitching was going to be our foundation, hopefully take us to the promised land, and so far it has gotten us this far."

However, one of the first major steps in the transition produced a big stumble. The Giants thought they were getting a staff ace and a new face of the franchise with another Barry.

In December 2006, they signed left-hander Barry Zito to a seven-year, $126 million contract, at the time the largest ever given a pitcher. He has yet to deliver a winning season for them.

Sabean doesn't specify whether the distancing from the Bonds era involves merely changing the way the Giants try to win or also leaving the baggage that accompanied baseball's all-time home run leader — the accusations of steroid use, the overbearing clubhouse personality, the massive ego — but he does say this is his favorite team since assuming the job after the 1996 season.

It's certainly not because of its star power. While rookie catcher Buster Posey has the makings of a future elite player, he's the only non-pitcher who fits that description, as well as the only home-bred position player in today's expected starting lineup.

The rest of the roster is a patchwork — "castoffs and misfits," manager Bruce Bochy has called them — that reflects Sabean's desperate attempts to fortify an offense that flagged the first two months, as well as his long-held belief in bolstering the bullpen for the stretch run.

"Not one single guy (on the team) is a stud. We've got 25 dudes dressing up and being a different hero each night," says closer Brian Wilson, who saved three games and won one in the NLCS victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. "Everyone's contributing. This was a team effort."

Makeover after Bonds

That wasn't always the case with the 2002 Giants, who had the then-Anaheim Angels down three games to two in the World Series before falling in seven.

Bonds, in the midst of a four-year reign as the league's MVP, made the 2002 postseason his personal showcase, with eight homers, 16 RBI and a preposterous 27 walks in 17 games.

Even though San Francisco had a strong supporting cast with second baseman Jeff Kent, shortstop Rich Aurilia and catcher Benito Santiago, among others, the spotlight inevitably centered on Bonds.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, says Shawon Dunston, a backup infielder on that club and now a Giants special adviser, pointing out Bonds took pressure off his teammates.

But with Bonds and Kent being such polarizing figures and frequent antagonists, the clubhouse sometimes felt tense.

The 2002 club got strong pitching as well, but not as dominant as this year's staff, which led the majors in strikeouts and registered a 1.78 ERA in September, the lowest for the month by any team since 1965.

In 10 playoff games, the Giants have a 2.47 ERA. The Atlanta Braves batted .175 against them in the Division Series; the Phillies .216 in the NLCS.

That's what Sabean and his staff had in mind with the renewed emphasis, not only on young pitching, but also better scouting. From 1995 to 2003, 10 of the Giants' 12 first-round draft selections were pitchers (they had more than one pick twice), but only Noah Lowry (2001) and Cain (2002) made an impact with the club. Highly respected scouting director John Barr was hired before the 2008 season, and the Giants also committed more resources to amateur players, signing Lincecum to a $2 million bonus after drafting him 10th overall in 2006. Posey, the fifth pick overall in 2008, got a then-record $6.2 million bonus.

Posey gave the offense a jolt when he arrived May 29, eventually moving into the cleanup spot and finishing with a .305 average, 18 homers and 67 RBI.

In the pivotal 6-5 win in Game 4 of the NLCS, Posey became the second rookie catcher to collect four hits in a postseason game, after Joe Garagiola in 1946, and also made an outstanding defensive play that saved a run.

Moreover, he has been a strong complement to the pitchers, quickly earning their trust and developing his play-calling skills.

"Since we brought him up he played great baseball, both sides of the ball, receiving, swinging the bat," says Bochy, a former major league catcher. "It's fun to watch this kid play. It really is."

Youthful appeal

Homegrown players such as Posey and the postseason starters have the added marketing value of being followed and eagerly awaited by fans as they make their way up the minors, though that's not the only reason this year's team has caught the Bay Area's fancy.

Attendance topped 3 million for the first time since 2007, and Baer says passion for the club and merchandise sales are significantly higher than in 2002. He also notes sales to a younger audience — fans in their teens and early 20s — has been a trend

"Maybe it's because we have a player nicknamed Panda (Pablo Sandoval), and Brian Wilson with 'Fear the beard,' and Timmy is Timmy, and Buster is such an All-American story, very likable and appealing," Baer says. "It's more of a family show."

Bonds, who was greeted warmly by fans when he returned to AT&T Park during the NLCS, remains beloved by some, but fans are moving on.

Kim Spangler of San Francisco, a 13-year Giants season-ticket holder, agrees that this team has been embraced more warmly than the 2002 team "because the '02 team was so centered around Bonds," Spangler says. "But I think this is a team that represents a broader spectrum of players. … It's a team that everyone has someone they can relate to, not just one superstar."

A scene from the pennant-clinching celebration at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park provided a snapshot of what has made the Giants successful and likeable in a season when they were mostly expected to be fringe contenders, instead of challenging for the first championship since the franchise moved west in 1958.

Managing general partner Bill Neukom, the longtime legal counsel for Microsoft and a tall, thin man of 68 with a full head of white hair and a regal bearing, found Game 6 hero Juan Uribe in the weight room chatting with other Latin players.

The two fused in a tight embrace and started jumping together while pouring beer on each other in unabashed joy.

When they stopped, Neukom said, "Good job. We've got one more step to go. You ready?"

"Oh yeah," the shortstop responded.

They were two figures from different backgrounds coming together for a common cause. Neukom, who was a big fan of Bonds, sees the appeal of such an egalitarian approach.

"This fan base typically has two or three or four heroes on the roster," Neukom says. "So they come to see the Giants, they?re coming to see a team, and that?s been a very good vibe for us.''

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